Stranger Than Friends (Discontinued)

Chapter 1 I miss you

"RING!....RINNNGGG!.....RING!..."

The sound of his dreaded alarm woke Russia up, as he slowly blinked his eyes open and reached over to his phone on the other side of the bed to turn the damn thing off. He hated waking up early, especially for work, but hey, he's gotta make a living somehow.

"8:10am, ugh...work is such a pain in the ass," the Russian mumbled in annoyance as he got up from bed.

Russia was rather.. Interesting, to say the least. At age 25, he towered over others at a height of 6'3, tough, unapproachable, scary. And yet, while he was irritable at times and didn't really give off friendly vibes at first, he had a soft and caring nature that would prevail if you got to know him past being an acquaintance.

Russia's Pov
I got up and basically thanked the universe that it was a friday today. I would finally be able to take a break this week from my tiring 9-5. The sides of my small apartment were messy as always, littered with the same empty bottles of alcoholic beverage containers and dust that were there a month ago. It was sad to say the least...whatever, I'll clean it up eventually.

I walked over to my small kitchenette and opened the fridge, scavenging for any leftovers I could just reheat. I found a plastic tupperware half filled with lasagna that I didn't remember when I made, asking myself whether or not I could even eat it. Fuck it. I popped it into the microwave for a few minutes, grabbing a white towel off a chair and heading inside the bathroom to take a nice cold shower. I don't really know what it is but I always prefer cold showers, even in cold weather. There's something about them that hits different.

Getting out of the shower, I dried myself with the towel and put some new boxers, grabbing the now piping hot lasagna as I took a seat in the dining room, alone, still covered by my towel as I hurriedly scrolled through social media while eating my food.

Everyone on the platform just looked like they were having fun, how come I was the one with all the empty bottles and the clothes piled everywhere? God I need to do laundry soon.

Out of nowhere, my phone pinged, pulling down a notification of a message from someone I hadn't talked to in a very long time. My good friend, Germany! I hurriedly tapped on the notification and read what it said:

"Germs: hey ruski, mind if i visit an old friend for the weekends?"

"Ruskiy: oh yes of course! I'd love that it'll be the first time we meet up again after.... 3 years? You're always so busy...."

"Germs: i apologize for that, its just whenever you make plans im always too busy and i really felt bad you were always taking initiative."

"Ruskiy: that's fine what matters is we'll hang out again just like old times"

"Germs: great! I'll drive there after i get off work, I'll likely arrive at midnight or so."

"Ruskiy: Sounds good see ya then bye"

"Germs: goodbye then, see you later!"

For some inexplicable reason, my heart almost lunged out of my chest from my excitement and anticipation, pacing around the room back and forth and punching the air before finally coming back to my senses. I'll finally be able to see him again! Hmmm, I wonder if he smells the same or if he started using different care products...wait, Russia, you're being weird and obsessive..Get back to work.